Explaining Zia Cooke's inconsistency, what it means for South Carolina women's basketball

COLUMBIA — In some games this season, Zia Cooke has been a superstar, carrying No. 1 South Carolina women's basketball to victory. In the Gamecocks' last two matchups, the senior has inexplicably become a non-factor on offense.

Cooke leads the team in scoring averaging 15.1 points per game, but in Thursday's 87-69 win over Kentucky she scored just nine points. She shot 2-of-9 from the field and 0-of-3 on 3-pointers with five points coming on free throws. She struggled even more in Sunday's 65-52 win over Alabama, shooting 2-of-11 for six points.

The slump comes after Cooke shot a season-high 73% from the field for 24 points in the Gamecocks' win over Arkansas, and she scored 20 points shooting 57% the first time South Carolina played Kentucky on Jan. 12. However, it isn't a new phenomenon for the senior.

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Cooke's stat lines have been a rollercoaster all year: After scoring a career-high 31 points in a close game with Georgia, she scored just 10 in the next game, a 48-point blowout against Auburn. She averaged 9.5 points over a four-game stretch in November, then averaged 17 over the following four nonconference games.

"I think sometimes she may press a little bit, but it doesn't stop her from defending and doing other things," coach Dawn Staley said. "She'll get back on it. I'm almost positive she'll get back on it."

A factor in Cooke's inconsistency is her increased visibility. The senior was named to the midseason Naismith Player of the Year Award watchlist and has taken on a bigger role in the Gamecocks' offense with the absence of 2021-22 point guard Destanni Henderson. Last season, Cooke averaged 10.7 points and never scored more than 20 in a game.

Because of her abrupt rise as the top scoring threat, opposing defenses are putting more focus on her.

"People talk about how good Aliyah Boston is, but Zia Cooke runs that team somewhat," Alabama guard Sarah Ashlee Barker said after the Tide's loss to South Carolina. "You've got to give credit to that and realize that she's going to come out and try to get her shots, and I think we did a really good job of knowing where she was on the floor. When she was cutting through, we were communicating ... We knew we needed to limit her shots."

Fortunately for Cooke and the Gamecocks, South Carolina's roster is one of the few in the country that can thrive without its leading scorer. Senior Brea Beal, who averages five points per game, scored 10 against Kentucky and hit the team's only two 3-pointers of the night. At Alabama, sophomore Bree Hall came off the bench and scored a career-high 18 points.

When one player falters, the team's depth makes it easy to fill the void. In fact, Cooke did so herself in her career-high game at Georgia when Boston put up just four points and five rebounds. The biggest question is whether that will remain true against the Gamecocks' brutal upcoming schedule that features No. 5 UConn, No. 3 LSU and SEC No. 3 Tennessee.

"I think it's our mental aspect of the game and just believing in one another," Beal said. "Zia didn't hit those shots today, but I guarantee next game she's going to hit those shots because I believe in her and the next person believes in her. It's that point that we have within our team."

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What Zia Cooke's inconsistency means for South Carolina basketball